Days of Our Lives actress Arianne Zucker sues producers over alleged sexual harassment

Arianne Zucker is suing Days of Our Lives producers for alleged sexual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation.

In the lawsuit Zucker, who has played Nicole Walker on the soap opera since 1998, claims that Albert Alarr, the show’s longtime executive producer who was fired in August, “repeatedly sexually harassed and inappropriately touched” her and other female employees, according to a press release from her attorney Anahita Sedaghatfar. Alarr, fellow executive producer Ken Corday, and his company Corday Productions are defendants in the suit.

In the complaint, Zucker alleges that Alarr would make comments like “believe me, I’d love to switch positions with you” to Zucker’s male costars while rehearsing sex scenes. It also accuses the producer of groping, moaning, non-consensual touching, and making lewd comments toward Zucker and other female employees, and says that Alarr would follow up his inappropriate behavior with comments like “good thing there is no HR here.”

Through a statement shared with EW, Alarr’s attorney Robert M. Barta calls the allegations “baseless” and says her “outrageous claims” stem from Zucker failing to receive a “pay increase and additional influence on the show.”

Barta’s statement says “[d]ozens of individuals cooperated and every claim was thoroughly looked into” during an investigation after Zucker made the initial claims to the media a year ago. “At the end of that process, the decision was made that Albert should continue in his role as Co-Executive Producer of Days of Our Lives,” Barta states. The attorney adds that after Zucker failed to receive the pay bump she “is now – again – trying to exploit vile stereotypes to denigrate and demean a Black man who was in a position of power. Well, enough is enough. Every day for decades, Albert worked with hundreds of people who can – and will – testify about the falsity of Ms. Zucker’s mischaracterizations of him. We relish having a chance to share the truth and putting an end to her offensive claims once and for all.”

The suit also alleges that Corday paid female actors less than their male counterparts, and that once an investigation into Alarr’s behavior was launched, Zucker’s pay was cut, which she believes was due to her complaints about the producer. Additionally, the suit says that after the investigation concluded, Corday ignored its findings and made no changes to the “hostile work environment,” and only fired Alarr after the media caught wind of the allegations.

A spokesperson for Corday Productions told Deadline, “The allegations in Ms. Zucker’s lawsuit are without merit. Corday Productions offered to renew Ms. Zucker’s contract including offering her a pay increase. Rejecting Ms. Zucker’s counteroffer does not constitute retaliation. Complaints about Mr. Alarr’s on-set behavior were promptly investigated. Corday Productions fully cooperated with the impartial investigation and subsequently terminated Mr. Alarr.” Reps for Corday did not immediately respond to EW’s request for comment.

The suit additionally claims that the show’s producers refused to engage in good faith negotiations to extend Zucker’s contract in October, and that she believes she has been fired in retaliation for her complaints.